


The Call in the Dark

by EvilRobotCat



Series: Fear [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 16:27:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13640016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/pseuds/EvilRobotCat
Summary: (Set shortly after the events of Dirge.  A return with mild changes.)  There's an old factory just outside the city.  Reeve believes it can be converted to modern technology.  Anyone could survey the site, but he insists on doing it himself.  Against his better judgement, Vincent agrees to meet him there...





	The Call in the Dark

 

Reeve had developed a reputation among his employees. It was rumored the man wasn't himself, but an elaborate robot. There was no telling the difference, or so they said. Seeing the true Reeve Tuesti was akin to seeing a gold chocobo. Real or fake, tonight's Reeve left the building at an unusually late hour, and gave the night security a nod as he passed. They didn't ask to see his ID. Last month a guard had quit, claiming a giant cat burst from Reeve's chest to hand him a lanyard at a checkpoint.

He ignored their worried mutters and stepped into the dim city light. Lacking the beautiful green glow of Midgar, Edge seemed almost black at night. Reeve withheld a nostalgic sigh as he looked around. Some people must share his sentiment, as bright as they kept their shop displays after hours. He would have liked to walk alongside the rows and rows of neon that lit the business district, but he had somewhere else to be. Reeve turned the corner and walked into an alley with the confidence of a man protected by gods.

Or something less benevolent.

 

* * *

 

"You pick the most romantic places for our dates."

Reeve's heart leapt into his throat, then settled back into place. He smiled at the dark figure lurking in the shadows.

"I'm sorry for the atmosphere, but all the nice restaurants are booked. Would you mind, uh...?"

"Of course." The menacing silhouette slid into the weak light and took the form of Vincent. He looked at Reeve for a long second, then surveyed their arranged meeting place with a dry smile. "Did you invite me here to give you a history lesson?"

It was a factory, or had been a long time ago. Now it was just a relic from Vincent's youth, with broken windows and a weedy, fenced-in lot surrounding it. The place didn't belong in Reeve's new city, no matter how much longer it had been here. Much like Vincent himself, the former Turk would probably say.

"Not exactly," Reeve smiled, seeming to read Vincent's mind. "This is where they built parts for the reactors long ago. They weren't terribly efficient, but they were impressive for their time."

"My generation was... inventive," Vincent agreed. "Why are we here?"

"I don't know yet," Reeve admitted. "The city is growing, and this area will soon be absorbed into it. We're going to fire up the generator and see what shape it's in."

"You wouldn't rather send in a recon team to do this?" Vincent asked. Reeve's smile widened, reminding Vincent he was an engineer first and a businessman second. He sighed in resignation. "I'm your guard hound for the night. Lead the way."

As they moved into the factory's basement level, Reeve explained his plan in greater detail. Mako extraction was out of the question for the future, but the very first mako reactors were made using older technologies. If the machines that once powered assembly lines could be made to work again, people could convert the product into new technology with less expense.

If a team was sent to do research in broad daylight, people might gain a sense of hope, only to be disappointed if the factory had nothing worth salvage. Worse, they might think there were monsters or evidence of dangerous experimentation hidden beneath the floorboards. That was why Reeve had decided to make the first visit in the cover of darkness.

"You realize the irony of your plan," Vincent supposed, giving the wobbly stair railing a shake. "The people barely trust you unless you speak to them through that silly cat. If stories spread that the leader of the WRO is poking around an old mako plant, it won't be easy to convince them of your intentions."

"This is nothing more than a manufacturing facility," Reeve insisted. "I hope we can use it to help the people of Edge, not frighten them. But first I need to know what we have to work with."

The pair picked their way between rusty machinery and long-empty cooling tanks, looking for the emergency generators. If they were lucky, there would be enough fuel in the thing to fire it up for an hour or two. The factory wasn't on the new power grid yet. That would come after Reeve was sure it could be restored.

They maintained short conversations as best they could, but Reeve's mind was focused on his potential pet project and Vincent wasn't talkative on his best days. A few times Reeve tripped over uneven flooring or his own eagerness. Vincent caught him most of the time, and helped him up when he missed. Their touch always lingered, but their task was unfinished.

"I was afraid of this," Reeve grumbled some time later, as they stood before what looked for all the world like every other button-covered panel in the dusty old building. He placed his ear against the faded paint and tapped with his finger. Vincent watched him in silent but respectful confusion.

"Give me a boost, would you?"

"Into that?"

Reeve followed Vincent's gaze to the top of the large vat he'd found.

"It's probably empty."

"All the same, I would rather you work your magic on this side," Vincent suggested in a firm tone. Reeve frowned and muttered to himself about teamwork, but he didn't try to climb into the vat without Vincent's help.

After some fiddling with screwdrivers and wires, and a very unscientific application of a metal pipe and coarse profanity to the side of the vat, something deep within groaned into motion. A red light flashed a warning, then turned green with another 'application' of the pipe. Above, the overhead lighting flickered to life, almost blinding them with its pale brilliance. Reeve wiped his forehead with the cuff of his sleeve, proudly admiring his work. Vincent silently planned their escape in the case of doomsday.

"The fuel has been sitting in that tank so long, it's pretty much destroyed the inside," Reeve explained as if he'd been asked. "We'll have to bring in our own power supply. It's going to take a whole team after all. But at least we've got some light-"

His words faded as the generator sputtered its last and the overhead lights failed. In an instant the basement was pitch black again, and Reeve's small flashlight was... somewhere, he supposed. He blinked away the green and purple spots in his eyes and attempted to find Vincent in the darkness. A hand offered itself to him and he took it gratefully.

"I forget you can see in the dark," he chuckled.

"The stairs are this way. There will be more light on the next floor."

"If I don't fall to my death on the way up." Reeve forced a laugh.

"That won't happen."

Vincent's voice was close and earnest. Reeve followed it with his hand and found their faces were only a few inches apart. He leaned forward and met Vincent's mouth in the darkness. It was always Reeve who initiated these gestures. Whether it was a sign of reluctance or shyness on Vincent's part, Reeve couldn't decide. Was it affection that kept him coming back, or just the duty of a Turk?

Reeve reached down to embrace Vincent's left arm. Another part of himself Vincent kept quiet about, the engineer had discovered sensitivity in it. Whatever was beneath the case of metal and leather, it could feel. Every time Reeve touched it during intimate moments, Vincent reacted. Most of the time he jerked away in fear, but recently he'd begun to let Reeve's wandering hands explore it. Their fingers wove together and gently squeezed.

Emboldened by Reeve's curiosity, Vincent nibbled at his mouth until Reeve opened it to let him in. When his breath drew thin, Reeve pulled away.

"No?" Vincent asked, confused.

"This isn't the right place."

" _Your_ place?"

Was that hope in Vincent's voice? Reeve smiled. The ice between them had melted just a little bit more.

"Let's get out of here. I'm relying on you."

 

* * *

 

With only a hand and a voice to guide him, Reeve walked more carefully than he had before, and jumped at unexpected sounds that scurried around them in the darkness. He withdrew his hand from Vincent's to frantically brush away something that landed on his shoulder. When it was gone he grabbed at the place he thought he'd left Vincent, but found only air. Alarmed and disoriented, Reeve tried again, but managed only to upset his balance and fell forward.

A presence knelt beside him and lifted him to his knees. Reeve glanced away to hide his reddening cheeks from Vincent's remarkable night vision. A gloved hand touched his cheek and turned it back to admire.

"Look at me," came a soft whisper. In the pulse of one heartbeat, Reeve's body stiffened. The hand on his face was Vincent's, but those eerie, luminescent eyes staring right into his soul...

Almost in slow motion Vincent changed before him, illuminated only by the light that shone out through yellow eyes. Wings rose up and curved above them. An icy white halo began to emanate from Vincent's broadening chest, where the protomateria was buried. It worked its way to the surface and shimmered against red and black clothing now shaped into armor.

Reeve knelt frozen in fear. Chaos' fingers brushed across Reeve's cheek, drawing a shiver from him. His expression was unreadable. It was some kind of mask, wasn't it? The Chaos in Dr Crescent's old files had been a dark, bubbling entity without any recognizable form. This thing before him looked like Vincent, but it was unquestionably inhuman. Reeve attempted to speak, but he couldn't get his lungs to respond to him. Chaos broke the silence between them, speaking to himself.

"How cruel, this bond between us. I'm becoming more human."

Reeve's heart pounded loudly, and he knew Chaos could hear it. The thing was the reaper of all souls. He could probably hear the hearts and thoughts of every living thing for miles around them. And yet his eyes were fixed on Reeve, his hand caressed Reeve's face.

"What do you want?" Reeve gasped, finally regaining some control of himself. He could well imagine what Chaos wanted. His still-beating heart, ripped right from his chest, or something even worse. Every drop of self preservation within him told Reeve to run, but the demon's touch was so gentle on his skin.

"Only to see," Chaos answered, his voice still a whisper, "who calls to me."

"I haven't called you."

Chaos tilted his head in inquiry. He lifted his left hand, plated in metal like Vincent's. The cold digits wrapped around Reeve's trembling hand the way he had Vincent's only minutes before. A sickening sense of realization coursed through Reeve and formed a heavy lump in his stomach. What hid beneath the gauntlet had felt him, all right. Reeve's curiosity had penetrated something Vincent couldn't reach, something he didn't know was still inside. And here it was in the flesh, looming over Reeve.

"It was a misunderstanding," Reeve stammered.

"Oh? You take it back?"

"I..."

Reeve tore his eyes away from the face that looked so much like Vincent's and settled on the galaxy slowly turning in the protomateria. What planets swirled within it? Were they real? Did the beings within know they were part of a glass-like sphere lodged in the chest of a demon?

"Well?" Chaos persisted.

"I called you..."

"Yes?"

"Because..."

To embrace Vincent was to embrace this thing, this WEAPON tied to the very cells of his body. To reject Chaos, then, to run in fear, was to abandon Vincent. What would Reeve say to Vincent if he had the courage to speak honestly?

"I called you because I am enchanted by your beauty and your mystery, and I wish you would let me see who you really are underneath it."

That was it? That was the best he could do? Reeve closed his eyes and silently accepted whatever horrible fate was to come. He hoped it would be quick.

His hand felt unusually warm in Chaos'. The sensation overwhelmed him, and his thoughts grew hazy. Chaos spoke again, but Reeve couldn't hear him. He began to fall.

 

* * *

 

"Reeve? Did you hear me?"

Reeve gasped and jumped backward, landing solidly on his butt.

"Vincent?!"

"I asked if you injured yourself when you tripped."

"What?!"

It was only Vincent kneeling across from Reeve. No part of him glowed. He was invisible in the pitch black basement. Reeve shuddered and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn..."

Reeve looked down at the hand Chaos had grasped. He couldn't see it, but it tingled. It hadn't been a hallucination, he was sure of that. What had it meant? Would it happen again?

Vincent took Reeve's hand and gave it a worried squeeze. "The stairs are very close now. Don't let go until we are above ground."

"I won't," Reeve whispered. "I promise."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Seems... I'm trying this again. No promises.


End file.
